Barcelona brilliance and history stacked against Athletic Bilbao and their travelling army

Andy Mitten previews the Copa del Rey final as Athletic Bilbao and their fans descend on Barcelona.

Atlhetic Bilbao players train ahead of the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona. Miguel Tona / EPA

Thirty eight thousand Athletic Club Bilbao supporters began arriving in Barcelona on Friday. By plane, train and mostly by automobile after a five-hour drive from Bilbao, the Basques quickly bought up their huge allocation of tickets for the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.

Not since Atletico Madrid played Sevilla in the 2010 final have so many football fans poured into Catalonia. With 50,000 AC/DC music fans also in Barcelona for a concert, plus 30,000 more for the Primavera sound music festival, it makes for an eclectic mix in Catalonia this weekend, plus a scarcity of hotel rooms, even in a city used to dealing with millions of tourists.

The Basques are good-natured and have historically good relations with Catalans. The common enemy is all things Madrid and the Spanish capital was expected to host the final, but the idea of Barcelona and Athletic playing in the Bernabeu, with Basque and Catalan flags prevalent and the Spanish national anthem at risk of being hijacked, was too much for Real Madrid.

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They made their excuses, a frantic series of meetings followed and Camp Nou, the biggest football stadium in Europe, was agreed by both finalists. Spain doesn’t have a national stadium to host finals, but the problems could have been eased had the venue been agreed before the finalists were known. That’s not how things are done in Spain, but it could be worse: the date for last year’s final was changed, while the 2012 final was switched so that it didn’t clash with the Eurovision song contest.

The venue presents positives and negatives for Barça. The players are familiar with the huge pitch and many of their fans see it as a “home” game.

Bur Barca fans will have only one-third of the tickets usually available. As is the norm with finals, there will be two fan zones for rival fans. The idea of Barcelona fans being encouraged to go to an area in their own city is curious, but there’s huge demand to see the game.

The pair are familiar final foes: this final is the eighth between Barcelona and Athletic and a third in six years. The Basques lost all the most recent ones, the most recent in 2012, Pep Guardiola’s last game in charge of Barca.

Athletic have not won the cup — or any cup — since a 1984 victory over Barça. That cup win made Athletic, with 23 Copa del Rey titles, Spain’s undisputed cup kings. Barça have since superseded them and now have 26 titles.

Barça won the 2009 final between the two teams which made part of their treble. With the league title already won and the Champions League final to look forward to, their fans are hoping for a repeat of that 2009 success. They are clear favourites against Ernesto Valverde’s side, who finished the league strongly in seventh and will play in the Europa League next season.

The teams first met in a final in 1920 in Gijón, then played finals in the Bernabeu in 1932, 1942, 1953 and 1984. The 2009 final between these two huge, historic clubs was staged in Valencia’s Mestalla; the 2012 final was in Atletico’s Calderon, when Lionel Messi was again a star.

Barca’s best player prepared for Saturday’s game by taking his son to the beach. Playing at home was appreciated in his household and Messi will be up front alongside Luis Suarez and Neymar as Barça play their strongest side in the finale to the top-level Spanish domestic season.

All eyes are on the game and the Spanish government have pressured both clubs to make sure their supporters don’t whistle during the national anthem. They are unlikely to get their way, no matter where a game between these two clubs is played.

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